Indian company Tata Communications confirmed this morning that it was considering a cash offer to acquire troubled telco Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

In a statement to the City, Tata said it was evaluating such a buyout of CWW - which is also being eyed up by mobile giant Vodafone.

Tata has until the end of play on 29 March to table its cash offer to takeover the carrier, or else abandon any such bid. Vodafone has a deadline of 12 March to throw its hat into the ring or walk away.

CWW's CEO Gavin Darby is the third boss at the company, which has been forced to issue a series of profit warnings, in the space of a year.

The telco has the largest fibre network in the UK and mainly serves business and public sector customers. ®